Soldier at the Helmand Province in Afghanistan

The Soviet Union tried to tame this land and lost.  Are we headed down the same path?  Part one of a multi-part series.

Afghan history is replete with wars, conquerors, tribal conflicts and assassinations.  In this article I will explain the history of the area, the politics involved, and all the major players in this region.  It would be important to see the country, its location and how it is divided up.  As the situation is fluid, this map maybe outdated in a few months.  With American forces now involved, the geopolitical landscape changes weekly.  Iran is to the left, Pakistan to the right.  In the second map you can see all the countries it touches.   It does have a strategic importance in the region and that is why wars have been fought for thousands of years.  It touches China in the northeast, and to the north it touches all the oil rich providences of the former Soviet Union.

If you expand the image you can see all the regions clearly.

In this image you can see all the surrounding countries.

In 1219 the region was overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who devastated the land exterminating every human being in the ancient cities of Herat and Balkh. The destruction caused by the Mongols depopulated major cities and caused much of the population to revert to an agrarian rural society.  Their rule continued with the Ilkhante and was extended further following the invasion of Timor Lang a ruler from Central Asia.  In 1504, Babura descendant of both Timur Lang and Genghis Khan, established the Mughal Empire and  its capital at Kabul. By the early 1700s, Afghanistan was controlled by several ruling groups: Uzbeks to the north, Safavids to the west and the remaining larger area by the Mughals or self-ruled by local tribes.

In 1709, Mir Wais Hotak from the Ghilsai clan overthrew and killed Gurgin Khan the Safavid governor of Kamdahar.  Mir Wais successfully defeated the Persians who were attempting to convert the local population of Kandahar from Sunni to the Shia sect of  Islam.  Mir Waisheld ruled the region of Kandahar until his death in 1715 and was succeeded by his son Mir Mahmud Hotaki.  In 1722, Mir Mahmud led an Afghan army to Isfahan… aka Iran, sacked the city and proclaimed himself King of Persia. However, the great majority still rejected the Afghan regime as usurping and after the massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan by the Afghans – including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family – the Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power by a new ruler, Nadir Shah of Persia.  Keep reading as all this will come together into the present.

In 1738 Nadir Shah took over Kandahar and was assassinated in 1747.  Next up was Ahmad Shah Durrani who has been given credit to establishing the modern Afghanistan.  He died by natural causes for a change, and his son took over and then his son took over.  Enter the United Kingdom.  They had influence over them until the 1900′s.  Strained tensions between Britain and Afghanistan lead to the creation of Pakistan.  Seems the Brits have caused a lot of problems from the 1800′s forward in their global conquests.

King Amanullah on a royal trip to Berlin. This trip initiated a great alliance between Afghanistan and Germany that continues to this day.

King Amanullah (1919-1929) moved to end his country’s traditional isolation in the years following the Third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. A key force behind these reforms was Mahmud Tarziand, Amanullah Khan’s Foreign Minister and father-in-law – and an ardent supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan’s first constitution which made elementary education compulsory. Some of the reforms that were actually put in place, such as the abolition of the traditional  Muslim Veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders.  Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 and Kabul fell to forces led by Habibullah Kalakani.  Seems that some leaders just  want to pull their countries back into the stone age!

Prince Mohammed Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah’s, in turn defeated and killed Habibullah Kalakani in October of the same year, and with considerable Pashtun tribal support he was declared King Nadir Shah.  He began consolidating power and regenerating the country.  He abandoned the reforms of Amanullah Khan in favour of a more gradual approach to modernisation.  In 1933 he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student.

Afghan King Zahir Shah and his wife with US President John F. Kennedy (far right) and his wife Jacqueline (far left).

Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan’s 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. The longest period of stability in Afghanistan was when the country was under the rule of King Zahir Shah. Until 1946 Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle, who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. In 1946, another of Zahir Shah’s uncles, Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister and began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected.  In 1953, he was replaced as Prime Minister by Mohammed Daiud Khan, the king’s cousin and brother-in-law.  Daoud sought a closer relationship with the Soviet Union and a more distant one towards Pakistan. 

Russian tanks. 10 years of war and they lost to Nomads.

MRAP in use.

So how did the Soviet Union end up invading Afghanistan and what was the American response?  Will the US end up in the same mess?  I will cover this crucial part in Afghanistan’s history in part two.  Parts of the Cold War were fought right here in Afghanistan.   Our soldiers are being sent to Afghanistan for what reason?   The number of US killed is a nebulous number depending on when you start counting.  I will detail that in an upcoming article.  I will also detail the problems with the new MRAP’s.  I will cover poppy fields and the drug trade.   This reminds me of another region of the country that is currently under political revolution.  Honduras.  Read my article here.    For a special supplement to regarding the search for the Green Eyed Girl click here.

The Paul Smith for Congress website is www.paulsmithforcongress.org
Paul Smith.  Republican Candidate for the 5th Congressional District (Sacramento)